Horse Racing: Today at Del Mar, Nov. 7

Post Time 12:30 p.m.
Race 1 – 6 ½ furlongs, Purse $52,000, Maiden special weights, 2-year-olds
1 Good for It – Like him off a sharp MSW debut this August at Del Mar; suspect the 2-year-olds he faced than in that field are stronger than he’s facing tonight.
4 Esposito – Tepid chalk in a difficult opener; showed good speed in debut under Gary Stevens, now trainer Tom Proctor switches to second stable rider Drayden Van Dyke.
Long Shot – 7 Mighty Moses
Race 2 – 1 1/16th miles (turf, rail at 24 feet), Purse $32,000, Claiming $32,000, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up
4 With a Twist – Ran OK first race off the claim by trainer Philip D’Amato; slides down one notch in class which may be enough to get his picture taken today.
3 Zanbo – Sliding down the claiming ladder for trainer Vann Belvoir; barn hasn’t been winning a lot lately but the key for me is Rafael Bejarano remains loyal to them.
Long Shot – 8 Light Striker
Race 3 – 6 ½ furlongs, Purse $28,000, Maiden claiming $50,000, Cal-breds, 2-year-olds
6 Mike’s Benchmark – Of the horses with experience, I like this one the best; was closing well in his career debut, albeit in a very slowly run race.
9 Loyalist – Your edge over me is you’ll be able to see the tote board action on the 5 FTS in this field; this one has a bullet work on his training resume.
Long Shot – 2 Star Express
Race 4 – 1 1/16th miles (turf, rail at 24 feet), Purse $53,000, Allowance, 3-year-olds and up
2 Somethings Unusual – Small edge in a much harder than looks turf route; has enough tactical speed to guard the rail and save a lot of ground from mid-pack.
4 What a View – Exits a nice turf route win over lesser Cal-bred foes; if he repeats his last race victory, he’ll be right in the thick of things facing open company.
Long Shot – 5 Tamait
Race 5 – 1 mile, Purse $20,000, Claiming $16,000, 3-year-olds and up
1 Antinanco – If you’ve read me for a while, you know I like the rail post in a 2-turn mile on turf or dirt; and that holds for all tracks, not just SoCal racing.
7 Ice Cream Truck – He is a grinder who has found his friends at this modest class level; when he moves up in class, he usually has his head handed to him.
Long Shot – 4 The Gold Monkey
Race 6 – 1 1/16th miles (turf, rail at 24 feet), Purse $55,000, Optional claiming $62,500, 3-year-olds and up
2 Havanna Belle – Gets reunited with Rafael Bejarano, which is enough for me to give her a big shot tonight; this is among many wide open races on the card tonight.
5 Glory – Tepid chalk in a turf route that can go a lot of different ways; usually what happens is the exacta will be horses that can get the cleanest trips.
Long Shot – 7 Spirit of Ten
Race 7 – 6 furlongs, Purse $55,000, Optional claiming $62,5000, 3-year-olds and up
5 All Run – Has polished off two straight easy wins since transferred over to the Richard Baltas barn; if you cashed twice, you ride the horse until you fall off.
6 Kafister – Speedy sort figures to provide the target for the others to chase; jockey Kent Desormeaux has had a renaissance year in return to SoCal circuit.
Long Shot – 3 Story to Tell
Race 8 – 1 1/16th miles (turf, rail at 24 feet), $75,000 Kathryn Crosby, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up
2 Three Hearts – Never had a chance when shipped to Arlington Park for the Stars N Strips; this is a glorified allowance race so it is major class relief.
7 Chaulk O Lattey – While she is in sharp form, this is a class rise for her; has good early speed which should be helpful with the turf rail out 24 feet.
Long Shot – 4 Cast in Silver
Race 9 – 6 ½ furlongs, Purse $21,000, Maiden claiming $30,000, 2-year-olds
9 Blue Cooper – A bad race like this is rarely won by an obvious horse; I’ll try a FTS from the Bob Hess barn ridden by Kent Desormeaux, need not be much horse.
12 Unbridled Rocket -
Long Shot – 2 Small Town Shuffle
Best Bet - 5 All Run (race 7)
Del Mar Friday - Picks/Winners/Mutuels, 16/5/$22.20; Long Shots, 8/1/$7.60; Best Bet, 1/1/$3.00
Del Mar Totals - 99/28/$147.00; Long Shots, 49/4/$35.00; Best Bets, 6/3/$8.40
SIMULCAST PLAY OF THE DAY - #9 Super Psyche (2/1) in race 5 at Aqueduct. For scoring purposes, we'll make a hypothetical $2 win, place and show bet, $6 total. On Friday, Star of New York ran third at Belmont Park paying $2.70 to show. Stats - 165/110/$827.60; Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick